Mormon foodways

Dietary law, fasting, and sacrament bread

Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, called the Word of Wisdom, instructs members to eat fruit seasonally, use meat sparingly, and consume grains, especially wheat. It bans alcohol, tobacco, and hot drinks such as coffee and tea. These restrictions were not consistently enforced until the 1900s, and in 1921 they became a requirement for temple attendance. The timing of stricter enforcement coincided with the temperance movement and may have been influenced by a desire for approval from Protestant groups.

Pioneers in the late 1800s did drink coffee, tea, and distilled spirits, and they grew herbs like peppermint, rose hip, jasmine, hops, and lemon balm for tisanes. The first Sunday of each month is set aside for fasting from two meals, with the money saved donated as a fast offering to help the poor through local bishops and storehouses. Young children and those with health issues are usually exempt. Women in Kirtland, Ohio, and later in Utah in the 1890s baked bread for the sacrament; one woman cut off the crusts and carried the bread on a crystal platter, creating a personal ritual from domestic work. Pioneers often ate bread softened with molasses and made soup from dried bread.

Foodways in Illinois

Mormon foodways in Illinois resembled those of other frontier settlers. Most residents of Nauvoo could not afford cookstoves and used bake ovens, also called spiders, which functioned like modern Dutch ovens. Because many pioneers came from the Yankee Northeast, they referred to them as bake ovens rather than Dutch ovens. Available food crops included apples, cucumbers, Indian corn, gooseberries, grapes, melons, oats, peaches, potatoes, pumpkins, rice, squash, tomatoes, and wheat. Women made maple syrup when the snow thawed, enjoyed fresh vegetables in summer, and preserved food by making pickles and drying fruit. Meat was comparatively inexpensive, while vegetables were costly. If a household owned a cow, the woman of the house or a child was responsible for milking it.

Foodways of the Utah pioneers

Pioneers planted heirloom crops and raised heritage livestock. The first crop sown in Salt Lake Valley in 1847 was potatoes, followed by buckwheat, corn, oats, turnips, beans, and others. Peach pits and apple seeds were planted soon after. Some pioneers brought seeds from elsewhere, including club-head wheat, the California pea, and the now-extinct Garnet Chili potato.

Onions were widely grown, but garlic was not. Nutmeg was very popular, and cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper were also used. Farmers such as Wilford Woodruff tried to breed apple, peach, and pear varieties suited to Utah's climate. Livestock served multiple purposes: Shorthorn cattle pulled wagons and plows and provided milk and beef, while Spanish Churro sheep supplied both wool and mutton.

By the turn of the century, more specialized breeds had replaced these. Lard was difficult to produce but highly valued. Wheat flour was scarce, so many pioneers used cheaper corn flour; early water-powered grist mills produced a range from whole-wheat to white flour. Corn was easier to grow on undeveloped land, and all social classes ate hominy.

Poor families gleaned wheat from fields. Pioneers learned foraging from indigenous tribes such as the Goshutes, eating wild sego bulbs, rose hips, berries, onions, nettles, amaranth, dandelion greens, wild mushrooms, and artichokes. They hunted elk, rabbit, sage hen, duck, trout, and salmon. When grasshoppers destroyed crops in 1855, they fished and stored millet and trout for winter.

Wild berries harvested included serviceberries, chokecherries, currants, raspberries, strawberries, elderberries, and gooseberries. Seasonal foods included peas, radishes, and sego bulbs in spring; lettuce, beans, and corn in summer; and tomatoes, cabbages, carrots, and potatoes in fall.

Contemporary foodways

Before the mid-20th century, many church members grew their own produce, canned fruits and vegetables, and baked bread and pickles from scratch. After World War II, processed items like canned soup, cake mixes, and gelatin became more common in both everyday cooking and long-term food storage. Since some stored staples go bad after a few months or a year, cookbooks and websites now help families use up their food storage in regular meals. Church leaders still encourage keeping emergency supplies, and home baking remains widespread.

A 2012 survey showed that 58% of members had at least three months of food stored at home. The region’s food is similar to Midwestern comfort food or country home cooking. Dishes seen as especially Utah-style include Utah scones, funeral potatoes, and green Jell-O. In the 1980s, Jell-O was marketed as kid-friendly and easy for parents, which resonated with family-focused Mormons; in 2001, Utah lawmakers officially named it a favorite snack. Dutch oven cooking is common in the Rockies, used for everything from stews to bread and roasts.

Utah is the second-biggest market for Rhodes dinner rolls, and in 2004 Salt Lake City led the nation in soda consumption—many Mormons drink soda instead of alcohol. Seasonal festivals include Bear Lake’s raspberry festival and Payson’s onion days. Fry sauce acts as a cultural marker for Utahns and is enjoyed by both Mormons and non-Mormons across the state.